100 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



floor of it we have four trap-doors about 10 

 feet apart, iu size 2X3^ feet, directly over 

 the bees. These we can easily open to any 

 size of hole from a little crack to the whole 

 space, 2X2^2 feet, which allows all impure air 

 to pass off into the large room above. We 

 can also put a quilt in the place of the large 

 door at the south end of the cellar, which 

 gives tine ventilation into the tank-room and 

 up the stairway into the shop, and up a 

 garret. We have two pipe-holes in the chim- 

 ney, one of which is always open, and makes 

 a strong current of all foul air out of the 

 building. This steady and gradual ventila- 

 tion of the cellar into these two large rooms, 

 one at the end and the other directly over 

 the cellar, keeps the air as fresh and healthy 

 where the bees are as it is outdoors. 



With this way of ventilating the cellar it 

 is never necessary to open any outside doors, 

 letting in cool fresh air, which will arouse a 

 whole cellar of bees to the extent that they 

 never again become quiet, and form them- 

 selves into a nice compact cluster, as they 

 should to go through the latter part of the 

 winter without loss. 



We were surprised last spring to see how 

 few bees wasted away while they were con- 

 fined in the cellar. The average loss was 

 less than ^ pint to the colony, and that with 

 a confinement of over five months. Every 

 additional year's experience in wintering a 

 large number of colonies convinces me more 



and more of the vital importance of giving 

 them a pure healthy atmosphere during these 

 long northern winters. 



I often think that, if those who have gone 

 to much exjiense building bee-cellars, and 

 putting in ventilating-pipes conveyiag the 

 air directly from outdoors in among their 

 bees had only realized how much better it 

 would have been to have had this air first 

 tempered, as it were, by being a short time 

 in an adjoining room, they would soon have 

 changed their ideas in regard to ventilation. 

 But here is the rock that shattered their faith 

 in ventilation. When they saw this current 

 of ever changing temperature from outside 

 kept their bees restless and uneasy they went 

 to the other extreme and closed xip all ven- 

 tilators in disgust, and have ever since been 

 prejudiced against ventilating their bee-cel- 

 lars. 



This is one of the questions we bee-keep- 

 ers have studied on for many years; and it 

 does seem strange that it took us so long to 

 see the great difference in results when our 

 liees were ventilated by giving them fresh air 

 directly from the outside or from adjoining 

 rooms. The first has almost invariably done 

 far more harm than good, while the second 

 has given u-j the very best results we could 

 possibly ask for. keeping our bees quiet and 

 contented clear into the spring, so that it is 

 not necessary to disturb them until the flow- 

 ers are again ready for them to work on. I 



FIG. 1. — ALEXANDRK'S HONKY-HOUSE; this CONTAIN'^ THE EXTRA CTING-KOOM, TtlE IIONEY- 

 bTORAGE ROO.M BELOW, ETC.; IT I.S PKOBABLY THE LARGEST BUILDING OF THE 



KIND ly THE WOKI-D. 



